New Online Assessment to Benchmark Performance in Sustainable Production

Industrial organizations now have complimentary access to personalized recommendations for improving sustainability performance

BOSTON – April 6, 2010 – Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the availability of a new online sustainable manufacturing assessment tool for Rockwell Automation. The tool utilizes data collected and analyzed from more than two hundred manufacturing organizations participating in Aberdeen's primary research in sustainable production.

First launched in 2004, Aberdeen’s Assessment Tool Series has proven to be a very successful format to provide individualized and research-based recommendations for end users across multiple industries and at varying levels of organizational maturity. This is the first tool to specifically target business processes for manufacturers in managing sustainability across production operations.

“Increased regulatory, social responsibility and cost pressures are all creating a very challenging business climate for the manufacturing industry," said Marcia Walker, global manager of Sustainable Production for Rockwell Automation. "We are excited to make this interactive diagnostic tool available to manufacturers and hope they can benefit directly from seeing how their organizations stack up against top performers and what they can do to improve.”

The assessment tool uses Aberdeen's PACE™ (Pressures, Actions, Capabilities & Enablers) research model. By completing a 10 to 15 minute online survey, participants receive a personalized analysis of how their organization compares to industry peers and helps them to quickly identify key capabilities and technologies used by companies with top performance.

“We evaluate and classify manufacturers based on a variety of important performance indicators such as OEE, energy-use reductions, and corporate profitability,” said Matthew Littlefield, a senior research analyst with the Aberdeen Group’s Global Manufacturing Practice. “By taking an enterprise-wide approach across manufacturing operations, corporate performance and energy intensity, this new assessment helps manufacturers understand the value of sustainability investments to the entire organization.”

“We are also able to correlate performance in these metrics against the use of specific technology enablers and make specific recommendations to manufacturers for improved visibility and overall performance,” adds Mehul Shah, research analyst with the Global Manufacturing Practice. “The report that is provided at the end of the assessment will allow manufacturers the ability to see where they fall in comparison to top-ranked companies, build a business case for new initiatives or investment, and map out an action plan to improve.”

For more information about the manufacturer’s management assessment tool or to benchmark your own performance, visit http://www.ManufacturingEnergyManagement.com/. To learn more about Aberdeen's Interactive Assessment Tools, visit: http://roi.aberdeen.com.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the “customer optimization” process of Harte-Hanks (Information – Opportunity – Insight – Engagement – Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call 617-854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call 800-456-9748.

About Rockwell Automation:
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and information, makes its customers more productive and the world more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., Rockwell Automation employs about 19,000 people serving customers in more than 80 countries.

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Media Contact:
Matthew Littlefield, Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
617-854-5204
matthew.littlefield@aberdeen.com

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